All 107 Collections

This collection of indexed marriage records from England and Wales was recorded by the General Register's Office (GRO). It contains millions of records documenting marriages from 1916 to 2005. Images are only available through 1983.

This database is a collection of Texas marriage indexes covering various years and counties. To see specifically what is included in this database (counties and years covered), please see the bottom of this page. This collection is comprised of indexes created by several agencies - Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research, Hunting For Bears, and the Texas Department of State Health Services. Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears extracted information from records at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah and/or from records located at county courthouses. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DOSHS) index was created from actual marriage records and begins in 1966 with the statewide registration of marriages. Information contained in these indexes includes:

Note: Since this collection is compiled from a variety of sources not all records will contain the above listed information. Items marked with an "*" are only included with records originating in the Texas DOSHS index.

The marriage date is usually the date of marriage as given in the original entry. However, when no marriage date is given (e.g., the "marriage return" was not provided to the record keeper), the date of the license is used. Some marriages may be listed more than once in this database. This is to provide you with as much information as possible about a marriage. In a few cases, a marriage will be listed twice, but in two different counties. This most often happened when a couple obtained a license in one county, but were actually married in another. Another reason for multiple listings of the same marriage is different compilers or source information.

About Marriage Records in Texas:

Marriage records prior to 1836, if extant, may be in custody of the Roman Catholic church. Beginning with the date of organization, most counties maintain marriage records. These are presently in the jurisdiction of the respective county clerk where the license was issued. Statewide recording of marriages began in January 1966, but certified copies are not available through the state office. Marriages of blacks were frequently recorded in separate volumes.

Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution have compiled many marriage records for Texas. These are available in the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., and on microfilm through the FHL.

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage and establish important family relationships.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.

Finding the Original Marriage Record:

Unfortunately, Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears did not always provide information on the origin of each entry. However, careful researchers who wish to examine the original source will find sufficient information to lead them to that source.

This database is a collection of about 11.7 million individuals who were married in the state of Florida between 1822-1875 and 1927-2001. The index portion of this collection was created by multiple agencies - Ancestry, the Florida Department of Health, and Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research. The following list is a breakdown of the records included in this database and who created the electronic index to each of them.

Indexed by Ancestry (includes images of the records):

Florida State Marriage Index, 1927-1969

Indexed by Florida Department of Health (no images available):

Florida State Marriage Index, 1970-2001

Indexed by Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research (no images available):

Marriages for various counties, 1822-1875 (compiled from various records at county courthouses and/or on microfilm)

Information that may be found in this database includes:

Name of bride and/or groom

Marriage county*

Marriage date (can be just a year, or a month and year, etc.)

Marriage certificate number (only available for data from the Department of Health)

Volume number (only available for data from the Department of Health)

*In a few cases, a marriage will be listed twice, but in two different counties. This most often happened when a couple obtained a license in one county, but were actually married in another county. To provide additional research clues, this collection includes both entries.

Where to Go From Here:

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the original records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.

Copies of marriage records are available through the Florida Department of Health. They maintain marriage records beginning in January 1927. For information about how to obtain a copy, please visit their website: www.doh.state.fl.us. Records of marriages occurring before 1927 must be obtained from the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the marriage license was issued.

Many of these marriages may also be available on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These microfilms can be loaned out to thousands of local Family History Centers throughout the world.

About Marriage Records in General:

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Marriage licenses exist in varying forms. A standard form generally asks for the names of the bride and groom, their residence at the time of application, the date the marriage was performed, the date the license was issued, the place of the marriage, and the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony.

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. [Some] certificates…are similar to marriage licenses issued in other places.

This database contains a statewide index to over 4.8 million marriages that were performed in California between 1960 and 1985. Information that may be found in this database includes: bride’s and groom’s names, bride’s and groom’s ages, marriage county, and marriage date. Each entry is also linked to an index image. On this image additional information such as the registrar number and state file number, may also be listed. The information found in this database can be used to locate the original record that this index references. This is important to do because generally more information is available on the original record. For example, marriage records may list the bride’s and groom’s birthplaces, and their parents’ names and birthplaces, in addition to the information provided in this index. Marriage records can be obtained from the State of California Department of Health Services.

This database contains an index to marriages for Clark County, Nevada (including Las Vegas) from 1956-1966 (with a few marriages from earlier and later years). The database also contains a statewide index to marriages from 1966-2005. Information available in this database includes: Names of bride and groom, Marriage date, City or county of marriage, Officiant*, Date marriage was recorded*, City or county of recording*, and County book and page number. (*Only available in the statewide index for 1966-2005.) Note that all of the information listed may not be available for every marriage. Records from Clark County for 1956-1966 also contain an image. The Office of Vital Records and Statistics has marriage and divorce records after 1969. Prior to that date, marriage records are located in the county recorder’s office where the license was originally obtained.

This database contains marriage records from the state of Tennessee from 1780-2002. Information that may be found in this database for each entry includes:

Groom's name

Bride's name

Marriage date (or date of record)

Marriage county

Additional information about the bride and groom may be listed on the actual record and can be found by viewing the corresponding image.

Marriage records found in this database include marriage licenses, applications, bonds, and certificates. Sometimes there will be two of these records for one marriage. When there are two records for one marriage, the second record can be found on the image immediately following the first. Most often the second record will be the marriage certificate. To learn more about these various marriage records, see below.

Note: There are currently several pre-1787 records for Sumner County, even though Sumner County was not created until 1787. These dates are in error and occur on records that used pre-printed forms containing "17___" already printed. The original recorder did not always change the pre-printed year to the correct marriage date. However, there are many records that were changed and these records show that the dates are simply 100 years off. Therefore, any marriages occurring before 1787 in Sumner County can be assumed to actually have taken place in the 1800s.

Marriage Licenses:

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Marriage Applications:

Applications for marriage licenses have been required in some jurisdictions in addition to or in place of bonds. Applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a large amount of genealogical information. They may list the full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents' names, places of birth (state or country), and occupations. Recent laws require health certificates attesting to the absence of diseases that could be passed on to children. The application form does not include the marriage date.

Marriage Certificates:

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. These certificates are similar to marriage licenses issued in other places. The bride and groom usually receive a marriage certificate for their family records containing similar historical information, signatures of witnesses, and so on.

Marriage Bonds:

Bonds were posted prior to the issuing of the required marriage licenses in some states and were the sole documents required in others. Bonds were posted by the groom alone or with a second person, usually the father or the brother of the bride, to defray the costs of litigation in the event that the marriage was nullified.

Bonds were posted in the jurisdiction where the marriage was to take place, often the bride's home county. These bonds, the only marriage records maintained in some jurisdictions, were usually annotated with the marriage date after ceremony. It was rare for a marriage not to take place within a few days of the posting of the bonds, even though many bonds do not bear the annotation.

Taken from Johni Cerny, "Vital Records," in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006).

About Marriages in Tennessee:

Marriages were recorded in counties prior to statehood, a few as early as 1778, such as those for Green (1780), Washington (1787), Hawkins (1789), Carter (1790), Jefferson and Knox (1792), and Blount (1795). However, a state law requiring the registration of marriages did not pass until 1815. A subsequent state law in 1838 required marriages to be registered in "well-bound books." Between 1838 and 1919 both marriage licenses and bonds were recorded.

The more than 3 million marriages that took place in Ohio between 1970 and 2007 are contained in this database. Unfortunately, the information in this database doesn’t include marriages during 1971 because it wasn’t available from the Ohio Office of Vital Statistics. This index isn’t a database of marriage certificates. It contains abstracts that were created with limited information for filing purposes. The abstracts can be used to find the actual marriage certificates in the individual county probate courts that issued the marriage certificate in Ohio. The recent nature of these records provide a chance to flesh out more recent family history over the recent past as well as from 40 years ago. The index is searchable for: Name of bride/groom Birth year of bride/groom County of residence County of license Marriage date Search tip The original index created by the Ohio Department of Health, in some cases, limits the length of a given name to seven characters. Names such as Christian, Elizabeth, Katherine, etc. that are more than seven characters in length may need to be truncated to produce search results. If desired search results are not appearing, please try searching in the given name field using seven letters or less.

This database contains an index and images of marriage records from Missouri covering the years 1805-2002. Information that may be found in this database includes the following:

Groom's name

Groom's race

Groom's birth date or age

Groom's parents' names

Bride's name

Bride's race

Bride's birth date or age

Bride's parents' names

Marriage place

Marriage date

Types of marriage records found in this database include marriage licenses, applications for marriage licenses, records of marriages solemnized, marriage certificates, marriage registers, and indexes. Due to the variety of record types, all of the above listed information may not be available in the index for each marriage. On the other hand, there may be additional information listed on actual marriage records, so always click through to view the record images.

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

Search Tips:

This collection includes images of indexes as well as the actual marriage records. If you're having trouble finding your ancestor through the search, try browsing the index for the county in which they lived and use that information to locate them in the actual records.

Don't overlook the possibility that your ancestor may have been married in a nearby county that was more convenient to them, or where other family members lived.

More about Marriage Records in Missouri:

Marriage records are held by the county recorder of deeds. Prior to 26 June 1881, no marriage license was required; the marriage was recorded in any convenient courthouse.

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Marriage licenses exist in varying forms. A standard form generally asks for the names of the bride and groom, their residence at the time of application, the date the marriage was performed, the date the license was issued, the place of the marriage, and the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony.

Applications for marriage licenses have been required in some jurisdictions in addition to or in place of bonds. Applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a large amount of genealogical information.

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. [Some] certificates…are similar to marriage licenses issued in other places. The bride and groom usually receive a marriage certificate for their family records containing similar historical information, signatures of witnesses, and so on.

Taken from Cerny, Johni, "Vital Records" in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006).

This database contains both images of and indexes extracted from various records of marriages in Washington.

What You May Find in the Records

Marriage records can offer a wide range of details. While the indexes in this database may provide the basic facts surrounding a wedding—bride, groom, date, and place—images of marriage certificates may also include additional information such as

addresses

ages

race

birthplaces

occupations

marital status (single, divorced)

whether a first marriage

fathers’ names and birthplaces

mothers’ names, maiden names, and birthplaces

This database does not contain an image for every document included in the index.

This collection of Arkansas marriage records from 1837-1957 comes from records kept by Arkansas Courts of Common Pleas and county clerks. Information, when available, includes the bride and groom, their ages and residences, marriage date, license date, marriage county, and film number.

This database is a collection of Indiana marriage indexes covering various years and counties. To see specifically what is included in this database (counties and years covered), please see the bottom of this page. This collection is comprised of indexes created by two agencies - the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research (who extracted information from records on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah). Information contained in these indexes includes:

Spouses' names

Marriage date

Marriage county

Source information

For the source information you will see either "Works Progress Administration" or, "Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah" (for entries created by Jordan Dodd). If available, a microfilm number is provided for records from the FHL. Likewise, the WPA entries provide original record locations, as well as book information (title, volume, page number), useful for finding individuals in the printed versions of the WPA indexes.

Note: You may find duplicate records of the same marriage in this database, with the only difference being the source. These records were not removed because Ancestry.com wanted to provide the most amount of information about a marriage to the customer.

History of Marriage Records in Indiana:

Marriage licenses became mandatory in 1800. Beginning with the formation of each respective county to the present, the county clerk's office has issued and kept marriage licenses and certificates. Both marriage transcripts (1882) and marriage applications, beginning in 1906 (with additional family information), may have been used in various counties. Prior to 1940 it was necessary for a couple to obtain a license from the county in which the female resided. If an ancestor's marriage record cannot be located in Indiana, check the Cincinnati marriage records. Cincinnati was a "Gretna Green" (no-questions-asked marriage locale) for Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

The WPA began to index vital records, county-by-county for the entire state of Indiana, but the agency was abolished before the indexing was completed. The WPA index includes marriages for eighty-six of the ninety-two Indiana counties.

About the FHL Records:

The marriage date provide in these entries is usually the date of marriage as given in the original entry. However, when no marriage date is given (e.g., the "marriage return" was not provided to the record keeper), the date of the license is used. In a few cases, a marriage will be listed twice, but in two different counties. This most often happened when a couple obtained a license in one county, but were actually married in another.

I Found An Ancestor In This Database….What Now?

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.

Copies of the WPA printed indexes may be located at Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Some of these printed indexes may also be available from the Indiana State Library or on microfilm from the FHL.

Locating Originals:

Because county clerks are responsible for maintaining marriage records, the originals are kept with them. To obtain a copy, contact the appropriate county clerk and inquire about their research facilities or the procedure for obtaining copies of records. These original records maintained by the county clerk may also be available on microfilm from the FHL and may be some of the sources used to compile this database as described above. For many researchers, it may be easier to check the FHL records first, before contacting the county clerk.

Counties and Years:

This list shows the counties and corresponding year ranges in which the majority of the records included in this database fall. You will occasionally find records for other years not listed here. These other years may be typos, or there just may not be very many marriages for those years and counties represented in this database and therefore, are not included in this list.

This collection of West Virginia marriage records covers 1785-1971. (Pre-1863 records are from when those counties were part of Virginia.) Information varies by record, but could include not only information about the bride and groom, but also previous spouses and parents' names.

This database is an index to marriages in Minnesota from 1958-2001 (excluding 1996). The database is a compilation of two indexes obtained from the Minnesota Center for Health Statistics (CHS) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

Information available in this database includes:

Names of bride and groom

Ages of bride and groom

Birth dates of bride and groom*

Marriage date

Marriage place

State file number**

*Exact dates of birth are only available in data from the MDH. Records from the Minnesota CHS may have estimated birth years calculated from the year of marriage and age of bride or groom.

**Only available for data from the MDH.

Data from the Minnesota CHS covers the years 1958-1995 (and may include a few earlier and later marriages). Data from the MDH covers the years 1997-2001. Records from the Minnesota CHS also include images of the index.

I Found An Ancestor In This Database….What Now?

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage and establish important family relationships.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.

Finding the Original Marriage Record:

Copies of marriage certificates are issued through the county where the marriage occurred. Contact the registrar office of the appropriate county for more information on ordering copies.

This database is an index to individuals who were married in various counties in the State of North Carolina, USA, between 1741 and 2000. Available information may include: name, gender, birth year, race, name of spouse, marriage date, and marriage location.

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